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Starships
In the galactic society, transportation are defined as either planetary or intergalactic. Vehicles form the backbone of modern travel, trade and infrastructure planning. Without planedynes to allow transportation across the planet surfaces, its inhabitants would be isolated from one another. The same holds true on a galactic scale for space faring vehicles, as ships remain the prime factor of intergalactic growth, commerce and communication. To all space faring species, the structure and organizations handling space travelling vessels are some of the most important factors of daily life. It is not only the merchants and military who rely heavily on spaceships. Even the lowest production worker may rely on raw resources, which originates from another system. Below is a presentation of some important facts about spaceships in the Siren Star Universe. Weight classes helps to determine the type and capabilities of specific ships, as well as what they can implement. A fleet structure may not be necessary for players who play onboard a ship. For players who own a ship, which is part of a larger fleet however, the structure can help painting a picture of the most important parts of the fleet. For GMs, this will allow them to create encounters between fleets, as they would have happened during times of war. Finally, the design practices of different factions may offer more than cosmetic looks. Each design has its strengths and flaws, as well as specific tactics which make the unique. Lastly a quick presentation of the evolution of the designs may offer ideas for GMs, who wants to play in a specific age, or otherwise make use of very outdated vessels within their stories. : “… a ship is a man’s most valuable procession. It is his investing, his hopes and dreams, his future and fortune. His freedom. I don’t seek the possessions of a thousand systems. I just want the opportunity to witness their beauty with my own eyes.” - Jethro Lancaster, co-founder of the Order of Stellar Explorers. '' Spaceships Ship class list & description The spaceship is the most important thing in the galaxy. Without it organic life would be stranded on worlds throughout the galaxy. The construction of these important vessels is a well known science in the Pantheon galaxy; however there is more than one way of building a space faring vessel. Size, durability, travel range, power cores and life-support are just few of the elements needed to construct a workable spaceship. The need of a specific element, however, depends partly of what kind of task the ship is being built for, as well as who, or what, will be manning its consoles. This inevitably results into a wide range of different spaceships, all of which needs a description in order to label it. Before the rise of the Golden Age, a standard formula was derived by which all ships are classified. Through multiple iterations throughout the Golden Age, this Ship Classification Formula reached its final form around the time of the Sirens’ Construction. The ships are classified by their weight class. Once the ships weight-class has been determined, it can further be classified as a class. All weight-classes have two classes, with the exception of Medium-weight and Super Heavy-weight. These classes are based upon ownership: Civilians (Independent) are only allowed to legally own some specific type of classes, whereas military organizations have access to all classes. The details surrounding the definition of a class vary throughout the galaxy. Weight class: 'Ultra Light:' This weight class is divided between fighters and corvettes. Fighters are usually smaller than corvettes, and have a smaller crew (often only one). Both Independent and military organizations can freely use any ship within this weight class. 'Light:' Lightweight vessels count frigates and destroyers. While much alike, the frigates are often considered the workhorse, or more defensive type of ship, whereas destroyers are generally considered to be locked within a niche, as well as having a more offensive focus. Independants have only access to frigates whereas the military has access to both classes. 'Medium: 'The class of this weight class is called cruiser. While filling a wide range of roles, the cruisers are considered versatile enough to only count as a single class. This class is available to both the military and independant factions. 'Heavy: The heavyweight classes are only available to the military. The classes are heavy cruisers and battleship. While much alike, the main differences between them are speed and firepower, with heavy cruisers being the fastest of this weight class. The battleships on the other hand are usually the hardest hitting vessels. ''Super Heavy: As with the heavy weight class, the super heavies are only available to the military. Since ships of this weight class are few and far between, there is no real class description available for classification. The only classification available are the Dreadnaughts which, while not being available in large numbers, have been used to such an extent throughout the hamadromachia, that the class became official by the start of the residuum age. Fleet Structures The structure of the fleets in Siren Star evolves greatly throughout the millennia. The most common structure, the “galactic fleet standard” of the Golden Age, survives in the structure of the System Fleets of the independant star systems. The naval structures of the Union, Confluence and Imperative in the Residuum Age are the results of the experiences gained during the Hamadromachia. The Coalition’s fleet structure is constructed through a remodeling of the Galactic fleet standard, which incorporates the strategic strengths of the remnants of the Confluence fleets, the Utopic Defence fleets, the 12th Canonic Fleet and the Traitor fleets. The Galactic Fleet Standard: The GFS was composed during the initial years of expansion and colonization of the Endiku Sea. As more and more Independent system came into being, it became necessary to construct a common set of rules, as to how many warships a given system was allowed to maintain without being considered a risk by its surrounding neighbor systems. The GFS was inspired by the fleet structure of Alpha Lyncis. The fleet within a system was, and still is in many Independent systems of the Residuum Age, called the Local System Enforcement (LSE), sometimes just called the System Enforcement. The purpose of this fleet is to protect the civilian population from various groups, be it corsairs, UTC, paramilitary- or political extremists and, in worst case scenarios, other LSE’s. Additionally, the fleets monitor the Sinistra Beacons, hunt smugglers and slave traders, and can in some situation act as protection for large trading convoys. The LSE is further divided into two sub groups: The System Fleet (SF) and the Law Enforcement Division, often simple referred to as the Law Division (LD). Simply put, the SF takes care of matters relating to the overall system security and takes care of external threats. The LD upholds the local laws and devotes their time and efforts to hunt down smugglers, corsairs and other criminals. The Coalition: As earlier stated, the Coalition follows a fleet structure very similar to that of the GFS. The main difference is the addition of the Central Fleet, or the Coalition Fleet (CF). While the Law Division remains the law enforcement within their given system, the System Fleets from across the Sceptri Divide and Eridu Nebula are now required to join together and act as a unified defense force against foreign threats. This fleet (CF) is also used to maintain Coalition interests within the northern Endiku Sea, as well as maintaining a presence within the Bordering Expanse and, to some degree, the Antini Verge. Barrani Imperative: The Barrani Imperative had little regards for the Galactic Fleet Standard when it emerged, and as a result the Imperative never adopted the doctrine. Instead they secretly created tactics to counter and dominating any force, who had adopted the GFS. The fleet structure of the Barrani Imperative builds on the doctrine, that each minister governing a system should be able to defend his or her possessions on their own. As such there is no Law Division or System Fleet to control; there is only the Minister Fleet. A Minister Fleet is often named after the minister who owns it, such as the Nuzin Fleet, although some ministers prefers to name their fleets differently. Since almost every system minister owns a Minister Fleet, it allows him or her to find glory for themselves during times of war – Within the interests of the imperative of course. This structure does have its limits, as the ministers are poor to join their forces together during times of crisis. This is due to the fact that every minister seeks to better his position by being the marshal of the united force, and thus gain additional honor in the eyes of his Exarch. Even with these logistic problems, the Imperative have enough Minister Fleets to always outmaneuver the enemy forces, and at time counter invade the enemy territory while their force is locked in combat against other Imperative forces. The only true central fleet of the Imperative is the Exarch Fleet. By law this fleet is the largest and most powerful of all Imperative Fleets, even as its primary task is to protect the Exarch and the vasharil home world. Canonic Union: The Union’s fleet structure has changed much throughout its history. While originally very similar to the GFS, the structure changed rapidly during the later years of the Golden Age, as hostilities and skirmishes became more common. Each system has a small Defence Force, which can be considered the Union equivalent to the Law Division of the GFS. Three or more Defence Forces join together to form a District Defence Force (DDF), which oversees multiple systems at once. This provides additional protection for minor systems, which consists only of mining colonies, or who is otherwwise incapable of supporting a Defence Force of their own. Beside hunting smugglers, defence, and enforcing the law, the DDF also provided a line of defence against raiding minister Fleets of the imperative during the Hamadromachia. The majority of the military vessels are part of one of the 25 Main Union Fleets (MF). These fleets consists of multiple fleets from multiple star systems. To improve efficiency, protocol is that only ships from the same, neighbouring District (Defined by the terretory of the DDFs), are joined into a Main Fleet. For example, the 7th Union Fleet of Domham consists of ships from the Domhan District, as well as the neighbouring districts. The Domhan District have its own DDF (Domhan District Defence Force), just as the other regions have theirs. In practice, a Union Main Fleet draws upon ships from at least four regions, but they do not draw on the ships enlisted by the local DDF. The main difference between a union Main Fleet and a District Defence Fleet is, that a Main Fleet is an expeditional strike force, whereas the District Defence Fleet is purely devensive. They are, in other words, larger organizations of the GFS' System Fleet and Law Enforcement Fleet. The number of Main Fleets is not fixed: During the height of the hamadromachia there were briefly 29 Main Fleets. The MFs are by far the single largest group of warships in the entire galaxy. The Union Main Fleets have often been described as a slow moving wave of steel and fire, which will leave no planet unscarred during an invasion. The Main Fleet structure was a direct counter to the imperative’s Minister Fleets of the Imperative, as no single Minister Fleet is powerful enough to stop a Union Main Fleet. The Main Fleets do have a disadvantage, as they are unable to protect the entire border territories at once. For this task a subdivision of the Main Fleets was created, consisting of drafted and refitted civilian vessels from throughout the Revati Strait. Often referred to as simply the Auxiliary Fleets, the AF is tasked to do a wide range of operations, ranging from patrol, escort & reconnaissance to defensive, offensive and invasive mission. For a brief time during the hamadromachia, Penal Fleets was used to bolster the dwindling Auxiliary Fleets. Eridin Confluence: The fleet structure of the Eridin Confluence has a basis in the GFS; however the Law Division is near to non-existing in all systems, with the exception of Feghwen and Jarvis, the two systems where most of the Confluence’s fleets are stationed. The reason of this setup is the nebula itself; with the Eridu Nebula being isolating the Confluence from the rest of the galaxy, any smugglers and corsairs wishing to enter the nebula is forced to travel through Feghwen, the home system of the Lykin. This means that most systems are well protected from the surrounding galaxy, even without a local fleet. On the other hand, the system of Feghwen has become a bastion system, a gatehouse into the nebula. Nowhere else is traffic registered and monitored as here, and nowhere else is the Law Division powerful enough to rival a would-be invasion fleet if needed. The central fleets of the Confluence is called the Confluence Armada (CA) and while looking like a single unit, it is in fact made up by multiple specialized squadrons, or Schools as they are commonly called. The schools are divided between three umbrella niches: The invasive force, the traversing force and the black operations force. The invasive force was traditionally handled by the lykin and contains the heavy hitting vessels such as battleships, heavy cruisers and destroyers, as well as the main bulk of the mechanized infantry and artillery. The traversing force was usually handled by the sioran and was a mixture of the fighter forces, carriers, troop transports and other supporting ships. This force traditionally contains the frigates, corvettes, fighters and cruisers. Unlike the invasive force, the traversing force focus primarily on space combat, although the two forces usually work in extension of one another. The third force, the black operations force, sometimes referred to as the shadow force or the unknown force, was originally manned by the saphis. Due to the saphis natural abilities to infiltrate local organizations, the black operation force is consisting primarily of stealth ships, be that cruiser, frigate or destroyers. It is unknown just how many ships makes up the black operations force. As of the late hamadromachia and early Residuum Age, all three forces are handled primarily by saphis commanders. Faction Designs The Coalition Ships of the coalition come in a wide range of models and classes. Depending on their intended use they can fill out a niche in different ways. The reason for this diversity lies in the fact, that the Coalition is a multicultural society where designs, traditions and solution solving are mainly brought over by all of the member species. As such there is more than one way to design a ship. Rather than to become a problem for the manufacturers to keep up with this kind of diversity, the Coalition have adopted this as a manner of pride. Especially the fleets have been known to make use of a wide range of models to fulfill different roles, while still gaining a strategic value in numbers. The worst problem a captain will ever face on his ship is to accommodate the needs of different species, but for the most part it is not an overshadowing problem. Designs '''''Utopic: Like their canonic cousins the human ships follows a design that adds length and armor. Regardless of its weight class, a utopic ship has a large rear end engine module, which propels the ship forwards, as well as multiple minor navigational thrusters embedded into the hull at specific locations. Unlike the canonic ships the utopic design emphasis hull armoring above smooth plating, meaning that these ships are more likely to take the hit and shrug off the resulting stress though the ingenious structure design, rather than to take the hit and let the remaining energy propel off into a random direction. This practice originates from the asteroid-mining frigates, which need the bulky hull to keep debris and fragments from damaging the ship. The utopic ships are built to be guardians of their people, not conquerors like the Union ships of the hamadromachia. As a result most utopic ships have a heavy and somewhat industrial look about them. Like most human ships, the overall preference for warships lies in superior firepower and hull. The internal environment onboard is overall pleasant. Traitor: ''Like all vasharil ships, the overall design favors a short, but broad structure. Many traitor ships in the Coalition hail from a time when they were part of the Imperative. Most of the older warships were part of the Exarch Fleet, the private fleet of the now Traitor Exarch. The Traitor vessels are manufactured following a strict design pattern, which leaves little difference between a ship right out of the construction yards and a venerable Imperative ship. That is where the similarities stops however: As a part of the traitors’ embraced dogma of radically distinguishing themselves from their Imperative relatives, their ship, once bought, it will be acquired and outfitted according to the desires of the individual captain. As a result the most unique ships in the Coalition are of traitor descend. It is said that the personality and tendencies of a traitor captain can be determined by the unique look of his ship. Like all vasharil ships the overall design favors a somewhat bird-of-prey look, with the iconic width of the wings housing top of the line navigational thrusters, which can change direction on a whim. This allows great mobility and follows the doctrine, that by dodging enemy fire, he will have wasted a shot. While often more maneuverable than their utopic counterparts, the traitors often employ a tactic similar o the Imperative: A sleek design, A favor of strong shields over heavy hulls and CyberCom tactics followed by pinpoint precision shits from energy weapons once the opposing ship have been crippled. Traitor ships have a cold environment that is pleasant to a full vasharil crew. ''Saphis: Little have changed in the saphis design since the height of the hamadromachia. That being said, the overall design itself is the result of collaboration between saphis, lykin, siorian and, to some degree, fae’lynn practices. Favoring a design that extends the ship along its height, the saphis vessels gains an appearance that makes them tower above other ships. Internally this means that saphis ships contain more decks than their utopic and traitor counterparts. This also makes them more defendable during enemy boarding operations, as the opponent is unable to take any large portion of the ship at a time. A prime strength of the design is the favor of strong engines and clever use of other installations. A saphis ship is designed to outmaneuver the opponent while hitting it with gunfire, concentrated energy burst, missile or even CyberCom tactics. Indeed, the saphis design comes in many specialized variations. A specific ship can be the best within one field of focus, but quite weak in any other. This is generally countered by the designs other main focus: carrier capabilities. Whether carrying a single fighter or acting as a very fast carrier, saphis warships are known for their great use of their engines can carrier capabilities, which allows them to rapidly deploy their fighter squadrons. The main thrusters of the ships are set into the spine while the navigational thrusters are set as “fins” along the edge of said spine. On smaller ships the fins are located on either side of the generator room, which allows for quick spurts of edge cutting turns. The air inside a saphis ship is humid to allow peak performance of its native crew. Synth (Minaians):'' Being the youngest species in the galaxy, the synth have very few ships when compared to the other Coalition members, and have yet to develop their own true design tradition. For the most part the synth picks out an existing design which will perform the desired task most efficiently, then aims to make it better. As such many minaian ships have a prototype-like feel to them. Internally many accommodations often seen on ships housing organics are not present, such as toilets and air efficient filters. As such it is rare to see anyone but synths manning one of their ships. Another notable feature on these ships is the small numbers of external interface devices. Since all synths can interface directly into the ships software the external terminals acts mainly as a safe measure, should a very hostile virus be implemented to attack the interfaced synths. Many civilian ships have a form of experimental engines installed, which, when handled through the synth’s interface capabilities, has the shortest reaction time ever measured. Engines are likewise an important feature of the few synth warships in exsistance, as well as a mixed focus on CyberCom, S-GM (Wynth-guided missile) tactics, and heavy use on a new generation of heavy space-drones fit for ship-to-ship combat, anti-missile measures and anti-fighter tactics. The inside environment can be unpleasant for organic crewmembers, although some accommodations, such as med bays and heaters can be easily installed. Canonic Union Ships of the Canonic Union are known for their heavy hulls and powerful cannons. Since the early hamadromachia civilian ships carry powerful artillery fit to eliminate an opposing ship of the same weight class and in many cases a weight class above itself. This makes canonic vessels the least-desirable targets for corsairs, and additionally allows the admiralty to focus on more important threats to the Union. '''Design ''Canonic: ''The canonics prefers their ships to be sturdy and reliable. These traits date back to the colonization of canonic home world Mundo, where construction vessels helped granting the human pioneers a secure foothold in the Pantheon galaxy. The design favor length over width with the engines located at the rear end of the vessel. Embedded into the hull are the navigational thrusters: Each is weak on their own but together they allow the canonic behemoths to change direction. Later canonic design is the result of the bitter experienced learned throughout the hamadromachia. Such experiences include external extension of the artillery decks, which allows a wider range of attacks for the implemented cannons. While this does make the hull structure slightly weaker than the more enclosed utopic hull design, it do allow a more effective use of the artillery decks than seen on the utopic classes. Even so, the canonic design is in many ways equal to that of the utopic. The internal environment is ideal to support human life. Barrani Imperative Barrani vessels are built to subjugate ships and colonies alike, not through firepower alone, but through CyberCom tactics as well. The CyberCom tactics are used to weaken the opposing ship or station, which will allow either the guns of the ship to hit it more easily, or the deployment of ground units to round up the remaining resistance. This doctrine originates from a thesis of Ameretat the Subjugator (8th Thesis of “Conquest & Subjugation”): “Subjugation is an art which requires more than superior weapons and numbers. To truly subjugating a population, one must take control of what they find to be their identity: Once their essence is in your fist, you can mould it to remake them into their new roles of obedient servants“. Unlike the canonic ships, the barrani focus more on shields than hull. Design Barrani: '''All spacefaring vessels of the Barrani Imperative have a design which adds a great deal of width to the ships. The placement of navigational thrusters at the tips of the sides, or “end of the wings”, allows the ship to achieve a high amount of maneuverability, even when outfitted with the most basic of thrusters. The downside of this design is however, that it makes proper stress absorption difficult. This is usually countered by the implementation of powerful shields. This sleek bird-of-prey design allows all mounted weapons to come to bear during charges and hunting maneuvers, without being slowed down by a bulky hull. This gave the imperative an offensive edge against the clumsier Union ships. The internal environment is supreme to support vasharil crews. The Evolution of Starship Designs throughout the ages Ship design has evolved greatly throughout the ages. Following is a short description about the designs and their details during specific ages of the pantheon galaxy. The focus will remain on the human, vasharil and saphis designs, regardless of factions and organizations. Pre-Golden Age: ''Human: ''Little is known about the design of human ships before their arrival to the Pantheon galaxy. The earliest human ships were flying workshops, which would mine the local resources and help kick starting human civilization in the galaxy. This gave the ships a very bulky appearance, which would later result into the human preference for hull over shields. This design was better than those employed by the saphis and vasharil at the time, which would contribute the humans’ ability to expand across the stars faster, and safer, than any other species in the known galaxy at the time. ''Saphis:'' The earliest saphis ships were long and slender, with many experimental engines to propel the vessels forward. Due to the saphis biology the ships was filled with agriculture bays, which provided the crew with food, air and a humid atmosphere. Early designs were ill equipped to support these moisture conditions and many early designs suffered leaks and mainframe malfunctions. These problems had all been fixed by the time the saphis made contact with the vasharil. Upon contact with the lykin the saphis gets inspired to redesign their ships into a stronger structure. Favoring a design which stretches the heights of the ship, the construction allows more engines and navigational thrusters to be implemented more effectively. ''Vasharil: Looking very similar to early space stations, vasharil ships consisted of many pre-manufactured modules set along long corridors. These corridors were not limited to one direction and as a result, modules were fitted along every axis. This gave the early vasharil pioneers lots of space to work with, although the ships’ design would often be very confusing and maze-like. As the Imperative increases in size, the need for dedicated warships likewise rises. To add maneuverability and stability to the previously fragile design, the hull is shaped along the width of the ship. Together with a new invention – reliable, rotating navigation thrusters, the prototype of what will become the dominating design among vasharil groups has been found. Golden Age: Human:'' The design changes little during this time. Better engines, more reliable systems and a sleeker look are the major results of the following design iterations. Shields are employed for the first time during this time, although far from all human captains chooses to installs them. By the start of the Golden Age, the first four Main Fleets emerges. By the end of this age there will be 25. The design style of this age will later be called the High Canonic Design, Classical Canonic or Old Canonic. This design is sturdy and at times heavy in construction, which makes them some of the most reliable ships to traverse the Sinistra. At this time the unperfected practice of travelling in Sinistra without beacons is a gamble, which claims the lives of many trailblazers. ''Saphis:'' The saphis design becomes the standard design of the Confluence due to its possibility of implementing multiple engines at once. Some variations to the design exist throughout the Golden Age as the other species of the Eridu Nebula makes their own adaptations in accordance to their own design principles. This design is the second favored among trailblazers during the first part of the Golden Age. The design is not overshadowing dominant however, and so the Confluence fleet contains a fair number of lykin design battleships and sioran design carriers, which accommodates the pure lykin and sioran crews better than the saphis vessels and their high humid air supplies. ''Vasharil:'' The design becomes increasingly more sleek and polished. More navigational thrusters are installed until the latter half of the Golden Age, where the design begins to favor fewer but stronger thrusters. The favor of shields over hull becomes dominating among warships, due to their abilities of being recharged in deep space, whereas proper repair of hulls require docks and heavy machinery. To add another front of defense and offence, vasharil military programmers perfect the practice of ship-to-ship cyber-combat. The design is by the final years of the Golden Age heavily related to CyberCom tactics. Hamadromachia: ''Human: ''The human design practice develops into what is now known as Theodosia Canonic, Fortified Canonic or simply NewCanonic. This design variant extends the artillery decks externally and narrows the keel slightly. This greatly improves the offensive capabilities of the human ships. The Old Canonic design remains popular among the utopic colonies and by the end of the hamadromachia, a local variation of Classic Canonic has emerged. Fitted to meet the challenges and noods of the lokal population, both military and civilian alike, this design is labled the Utopic Design. Visually very simmilar to the Classic Canonic design, the most iconic difference is theslightly bulkier midsection and the bow communication tower on the light and mediumweight ships. ''Saphis:'' As lykin and sioran vessels starts to experience heavy losses, the saphis ship design becomes increasingly dominating due to its low manufacture time and excellent skirmish capabilities. By the end of the hamadromachia over 97 percent of the ships of the Confluence Armada are of saphis design. The design remains very vertical, as the large number of decks proves to give the crew a defensive advantage during enemy boarding operations. On larger ships a small airlock, too small to allow sentient entrance, in installed on every deck. Doubled with the possibility of sealing off entire decks at a time, it becomes a standard defense doctrine to seal enemy boarding teams on any given deck before opening the small airlock. This quickly deals with the enemy without risking the crew of the ship. Externally the design begins to adopt more navigational thrusters, so that lighter saphis ships can keep up with the maneuverability of vasharil ships. ''Vasharil: The design of larger ships begins to implement hulls more regularly to counter the heavier cannons of the human ships. Even so maneuverability, CyberCom tactics and heavy shields remains an important part of the design. The main hulk starts to increase as larger storage spaces for provisions becomes necessary for the long lasting hunt for new dark matter deposits. This increased storage space is further used to store prisoners of successful boarding operations and slaves from the uncountable slave-raids into Union and Independent systems. At the risk of losing stealth capabilities, the design of larger ships starts to implement additional energy-based weapons. Residuum Age: Human:'' Theodosia Canonic remains the dominant design within the systems of the Revati Strait, whereas the Utopic design remains a favorit among many civilians of the Utopic worlds. The design receives an overall upgrade to make to more adoptable to the modern weapons, engines, power cores and mainframes of the Coalition. ''Saphis: The saphis design proved successful throughout the hamadromachia, but the upgrades added during the Schism years increased the cost of manufaction. After the Lyncis Incidence the design becomes more minimalistic and simple to allow for cheap and rapid rebuilding of the Confluence forces, without cutting away the ships survivability during combat. The small airlocks on every deck are removed to improve the overall hull structure. '''Vasharil: '''Vasharil design split into two practices at the start of the Residuum Age: The uniform Imperative design and the individualistic Traitor design, later renamed the Waradzu Design. While remaining much alike, the Traitor design has partly abandoned some practices in favor of a wider range of implementation possibilities. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for the Traitor Design to break with the otherwise sleek surface, and instead favor custom plating. A human scholar has compared the two design practices as the difference between baroque & rococo. A definition neither groups of vasharils understand. Category:Spaceship Category:Design Category:Fleet structure